SO, the basement has been quite a project so far. I began to dig under the house, from the area I took down to full depth for the foundation of the garage, I arrived at this depth based on what I was told would be the easiest way to do the foundations, dig to full depth and place the foundations on the surface, and then fill the area in between, and pour a floor over them, so that's the plan. this works for a number of reasons, one of which is, I would like to have "pipes" under the floor to allow for geothermal heating and cooling. And the company putting the geo thermal in demanded the walls and floor " be in" before they would install the system in the basement. And I wanted the system installed to use the existing ductwork. Of course, I'm sure this will be a big issue because they don't make as much money for the job if they don't replace all the duct work. And, being a government house, it has no return system, it gets its return air by the air returning under the doors, because the doors are an inch above the carpeting, and the air returns through a large grate in the rear hallway / entrance hall door. It will be fun to get them to do it my way but that is really far off at this point. So on with the digging excitement!
As you will see in the pictures the original foundation is shallow and not reinforced with rebar or even fiberglass! it is a large shallow pour that was probably intended to have rebar. But it (the rebar) was either forgotten or removed for the scrap value, which is my guess, based on everything else that is so totally "cheap out" done here. The result is that the foundation has cracked, in 4 places I have found to date and it shifts up and down with the seasons, so some doors work in the spring, and some work in the fall, but none work all the time, except those in the hall! So the full foundation and basement under half the house will eliminate some of the issues, but will still have to allow for some movement even though the basement will be totally stable. The first problem to overcome is the tendency of the entire house to split down the middle, I found that as I was attempting to keep the undermined footer in place what I was actually doing, was causing the two parts of the house to separate from each other, Every time I jacked the foundation back to it's original position, it pushed the ends of the house apart, so it became necessary to support the remaining foundation in a position, which although not perfectly correct, could remain in place until I could brace the house up and remove it completely. So I cut a tree to length and installed it under the foundation while I dig.
This has worked pretty well, but I would like something a little more convenient to handle and move, and even the ability to adjust it could be desirable. So while Chris was out buying parts I had her get some "adjust a posts" with varying levels of adjustability, and load bearing strengths, And I continued to dig, and I dug, and I dug, and the bobcat sprung a leak! So I had to get some parts, of course the parts are only available in Canton as that is the closest bobcat dealer, with the ability to make the hoses I needed, and order the parts that would complete the rebuild I started two years ago, when I thought this (the garage project) was going to happen.

 

 

I also added a little weight to the back, about 150 pounds of cast iron on the rear door, which, although it works for the weight and balance issues, makes it a monster to open and close the back door! Of course how often is that required?

Well, after I replaced a couple (5) hoses, and rebuilt the rusted out front foot rests, and the rubber boots around the control handles, which I had to buy of course!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I decided while it was apart to move the exhaust and muffler outside, to help reduce the temperature around the engine, and as you can see it removed heat from the compartment, (well maybe you can't see that, but it did!) However, it put a rather substantial weight at the end of two long arms and shook it around rather dramatically. The engine is mounted with the pump on four heavy rubber shocks, so it can move as it twists and turns the machine around. Unfortunately this design allowed the creation of cracks in the pipes, at the top middle and bottom, and eventually started tearing apart the muffler itself, which tended to try to break entirely away from the exhaust pipes and destroy itself. Weld, weld, weld. And, in addition to the cracks in the exhaust pipes, the hoses that connect to the hydraulic motors, that drive the wheels, and the hoses to the main lifting cylinders are also subject to a great deal of stress. Which means, wear, and eventually dumping the majority of the fluid into the bottom of the tractor and out the drain holes that are rusted and drilled in the base unit. So that causes a little slowdown, as they are only made at the dealership, and that's in Canton. So it's a half day trip to get anything replaced. But now back to the exhaust pipe fix.

I finally decided to check on the availability of flex pipe in the 1" size range. Whereupon I mounted the muffler "fast to" the machine, and let the flex lines absorb the vibrations from the engine mounted on the rubber bumpers as it is.

During all this machine manipulation, I blew the coils on the engine, I was repairing the broken "bucket cylinder stop" when I discovered, NEVER weld near a Honda engine, way too delicate! And found that there was also a disastrously incorrectly designed electrical connection which caused me no end of aggravation in regards to the coils and the shutoff in the carburetor, well just after that, I could start digging again, of course I lost two weeks and many hours of sleep trying to get it right, but that's all for a later post as that hasn't happened a this point in the story! So, as I dug, I formulated a plan as to how I would systematically remove and replace the foundation, because the original plan was KAKA!

 

You see, originally I was going to just dig inside the existing foundation(ORANGE), and link it to the tops of the new walls, (the RED part) creating a stepped in basement, or stepped out, depending how you look at it, but when I discovered the lack of rebar the number of cracks and the obvious movement of the curtain walls (BLUE) I had to go full depth at the perimeter of the house, and have the house set on it, to hold it in place. There is good and bad in this plan, It requires the house to be entirely supported on a couple jack posts, while the walls are built to hold up the beams that support the entire house. Also to keep the remaining walls and foundation from collapsing during this process the existing foundation must be supported on more jack posts. And there is always the thrill of finding a large rock right where you (I) would like to have a stable area for a foundation. and as this is still the heat of summer, it's a monster to move anything, dirt, cement blocks, or even support trees. As it turns out the job is really tough, the digging is the part I like the best, the moving the loose dirt, a lesser amount, and all the rest is a pain in the ass.

I did this at our house on Lake Street, and a similarity I remember as I do it, is the basic structure of the earth. It is the same here as it was there, I only wish I could have gone as deep as I have here, because if there was really a layer of stone, down another three feet it would have made a much better basement. And I would have been driven to make the entire basement a full depth concrete miracle. Instead of the shallow "enough to get by" base, for the sagging rear porch. Of course the impetus for that project was not just the rear porch, but the ridiculous set of steps up through the rear porch floor and the collapsing walls around them. And I wanted to put the turret lathe and milling machine, in the basement. Which of course I did. I later moved them to the garage when we built it to replace the house the City of Akron stole from me. But that's another page altogether.

I also had to take some time off to do some other projects as this has progressed, the lawn mower I bought from the fellow up the street required some extensive rebuilding, just to survive the summer ( see Page 66), as well as the issues with the little truck, which I rehabbed for Ryan, but then he preferred my little Purple Ford Escort Wagon, which blew up on him, and he ended up with a Honda lease car, long story, again another page.

But as I have mentioned him, Ryan had his friends down, for a four day weekend. And we had 3 and a half days of bliss, everyone had a good time and everything was going great until.. DUH DUH DUMB! The water ran out!

 

It was the second time we have run out of water, since we put in the cistern system. The first time was due to a wiring failure, which caused me to needlessly replace the cistern pump. And then we ran a wire across the yard for a couple years, and mowed around it, finally I got tired of that inconvenience and buried the wire, and got things running properly again. this time it was simply hubris, and 7 people running water as if they lived in the city, during a dry spell. The last night, there were no showers, and the kids left half a day early. I had mentioned to Ryan that they were using the water at a pretty brisk rate, but they were washing the dishes and cleaning up after them selves and enjoying the big shower for longer than just washing periods, in my opinion anyway, but I didn't say anything to them this time, as I thought the water would hold out, and if it had been raining as it usually does, I'm sure it would have been no problem, but the amount used, and the amount replaced, were running at odds with each other, and the crash, was the last evening they were planning to stay. Of course I was pissed about the failure of the system and when I get in a "water issue mood," it is deep and dark. So I probably scared the young folks away, but maybe they will forgive me and come back to visit again some day. The recent dry spell, oops, that hasn't happened yet, more about that later.

So, for rehab from the second more successful left shoulder replacement, which was derailed by the total destruction of my shoulder in the fall through the floor in 2003, which I was unable to get fixed due to workers comp restrictions and insurance crap, The rotator cuff was totally destroyed, and ultimately removed, which left me with a Total Reverse Shoulder Replacement, which has some restrictions I'm told, though the stories are diverse and seemingly unrelated, the Doctor made no mention of a limitation on the joint except that if I dislocated it, which can be done if I place it behind me and get hit a certain way, there is another surgery in my future, and the repeated question about is there any pain? Now It's not a fair question in reality, as I live on pain pills due to my "can't be repaired, lumbar issues, and total body arthritis, when they ask if it hurts I say no, because with all the rest, it is a minor inconvenience. But if I don't lift more than a sheet of paper and the milk jug, not both at the same time mind you, as the milk jug is a bear if it's full, the shoulder is fine. At least the one they have replaced. Oh yeah, the other comment was made by the physical therapist, who is a great guy named Rob F. told me the joint has a 15 pound limit! Which really gets pushed pretty hard, when I'm moving 40 pound cement blocks, or shoveling the wet clay under the house. But with the ingestion of enough approved pain medication, I can, and do, finally, slowly, get it done.

I suppose I should, at this point, tell you the final outcome, about dropping the entire house into the hole I dug under it, as was forecast by my loving daughters, but if I tell you the horror of that escapade, you might quit reading, I have heard it said that "one should not dispel the mystery, or it spoils the story", and what fun would that be??? I will have to find the picture of the twisted and crushed jack posts, but again, that would be too much information for this point in the story...

 

 

The Chores, Fresh Air, Green Acres is for ME.

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